News
Invasive zebra mussels found in Lakes Lyndon B. Johnson, Pflugerville in Central Texas
AUSTIN – Established, reproducing populations of invasive zebra mussels have been discovered at two new lakes in Central Texas, Lake Lyndon B. Johnson (LBJ) in the Colorado River basin northwest of Austin and Lake Pflugerville northeast of Austin. Texas Parks and...
Perseid meteor shower will peak in night skies
All year long as Earth revolves around the sun, it passes through streams of cosmic debris. The resulting meteor showers can light up night skies from dusk to dawn, and if you’re lucky you might be able to catch a glimpse. The next shower you might be able to see is...
Hill Country landowner vindicated by commission: Kinder Morgan ordered to pay fair market value for land
Blanco County, TX - Hill Country landowner Matthew Walsh is breathing easier today after a three-panel special commission of real estate professionals ordered pipeline developer Kinder Morgan to pay damages to his land in the amount of $233,500. This award comes...
Meadows Center releases report for management, preservation of Jacob’s Well
The Meadows Center for Water and the Environment at Texas State University, in collaboration with the Hays Trinity Groundwater Conservation District, has released a report evaluating a potential groundwater management zone to preserve flows to Jacob’s Well in the...
What’s in the way of this Texas pipeline? A cute songbird
The golden-cheeked warbler, an endangered songbird native to Central Texas, always seems to be flitting around controversy. It proved to be a roadblock derailing the Texas Department of Transportation’s plans to build a toll road in 2016. Prominent politicians in...
Historic One Water campus project is officially underway
Wimberley, Texas, July 29, 2019— Wimberley ISD Board of Trustees celebrated the groundbreaking ceremony for the District's future primary campus on the corner of Ranch Road 12 and Winters Mill Parkway on Monday, July 29. The new, approximately 90,600-square-foot...
Scientists have big hopes for Uvalde Pool study
Ron Green, a scientist at Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, and his team of hydro-geologists are busy collecting data on and creating a lumped parameter model for the Uvalde Pool, a major reservoir of underground water centered over central Uvalde County...
Sink Creek Project Awarded U.S. Forest Service Grant
The City of San Marcos will receive a $423,500 grant from the United States Forest Service to fund the land purchase of the Sink Creek Community Forest Tract. This is the first Community Forest and Open Space Program grant awarded to a project in Texas. The City...
Sporting goods tax could exclusively go to funding Texas parks and historical sites
Parks around the State of Texas could start receiving some extra money in the fall. In 1993, legislation was passed in order to more adequately fund the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. Up to 94 percent of all of the taxes collected from the purchase of sporting...
Binational summit on health of the Rio Grande
Key players in Rio Grande conservation from Mexico and the United States congregated on Friday at the USO Building in Marfa. The binational coalition of scientists, academics, environmental activists and government employees was a rare sight. A gathering of this...
MoPac construction at Slaughter and La Crosse faces delays over environmental concerns
Construction along a stretch of MoPac Boulevard is facing delays after crews discovered dozens of fissures and holes in the ground along the freeway that help recharge the Edwards Aquifer and Barton Springs. The discovery of 72 so-called karst features has forced the...
Volunteers: The tip of the spear
Dear Hill Country Neighbors, I’ve gained a deeper appreciation for our Hill Country community after joining the Hill Country Alliance (HCA) family as a volunteer member of the Night Sky team. During my time volunteering with the night skies team, I educated various...
Apache donates $257,000 to McDonald Observatory
Apache Corp. gifted $257,000 to the University of Texas’ McDonald Observatory to help with the prevention of light pollution in dark West Texas skies – which are often used for research. The funds will hire additional staff to create resources for the dark skies...
Sedimentation surveys on the Highland Lakes a look into the future of water resources
Nathan Leber is all about finding the dirt on Lake Buchanan and other Texas reservoirs, or, more precisely, the dirt at the bottom. Leber, manager of the TexMesoNet and Hydrosurvey programs for the Texas Water Development Board, is in charge of a crew that’s currently...
Kinder Morgan sues Austin suburb over anti-pipeline ordinance
Houston pipeline operator Kinder Morgan has sued an Austin suburb over the passage of an ordinance that the company alleges aims to keep a proposed natural gas pipeline out of town, disrupting a project already registered with state regulators. In a 22-page lawsuit...
Plans for treatment plant raise worries about impact on San Marcos River
Huddled into a small 1930s-era high school auditorium, dozens of people this week declared their opposition to letting a yet-to-be-built residential development dump treated wastewater into Dickerson Creek, a tributary of the San Marcos River and a typically dry...
Rep. Zwiener’s HB 4158, ‘Hill Country Night Sky Tourism Bill,’ becomes law
Dark Sky cities in the Texas Hill Country can now use their hotel occupancy tax dollars to protect the night sky. Representative Erin Zwiener’s (D-Driftwood) HB 4158 is now law and effective immediately. HB 4158, the Hill Country Night Sky Tourism bill, gives small...
Texas could gain millions in federal funding to help at-risk fish and wildlife
Texas could receive more than $50 million annually to pay for initiatives that support at-risk fish and wildlife populations under a bipartisan bill introduced in Congress. Known as the Recovering America’s Wildlife Act (RAWA), House Resolution 3742 would provide $1.3...
Why we are losing the night sky
It never gets dark anymore. Not REALLY dark, anyway. Not like it used to. Light pollution is not only making it more difficult to see the night sky, but it's also affecting our health. For the past century and a half, since the dawn of electric light, we’ve been...
Letter to the Editor: Get started now to save green space for the future
by Richard Bigelow, New Braunfels ETJ Resident Letter to the Editor of the New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung July 14, 2019 Citizens of New Braunfels and Comal County, help save our area’s natural beauty! I began looking for a place to move in 2007 and the beauty, parks,...
Op-ed: Much info about pipeline was not mentioned
By David Baker, Executive Director of the Wimberley Valley Watershed Association Op-ed for the San Antonio Express-News July 15, 2019 It’s more than ironic that Allen Fore, Kinder Morgan’s vice president of public affairs, began a recent op-ed (“Pipeline safest way to...
New Wimberley school aims to take water conservation to the next level
From Texas Standard: Wimberley Independent School District in Central Texas is moving forward with the construction of a new environmentally friendly school. The project focuses on the conservation of water. According to the U.S. Drought Monitor map released...
Craft conservation: The new effort to save Texas water sources through beer
If you have a favorite brewery, you also have a favorite watershed. A new effort from conservation groups and local breweries aims to connect those two ideas, that good craft beer must start with good, clean water. “That water flows through, and it picks up minerals...
During a solar eclipse, what are plants doing?
As the total solar eclipse crosses South America on Tuesday, it won’t just be people oohing and ahhing as the sun is blotted out. Other living things will have their own responses, too — some of which we are just beginning to understand. As some scientists used the...
Dry Comal Creek Greenway public session set July 10
The city of New Braunfels and the National Park Service are hosting the final community meeting associated with revisions to the Dry Comal Creek Greenway Master Plan from 6-8 p.m. Wednesday, July 10 at Columbus Club, 111 Landa Street in New Braunfels. All property...
SAWS Board reviews metrics, gives CEO 5% raise, $100,000 bonus
After hearing from outside consultants, the San Antonio Water System’s board approved a raise and $100,000 bonus for the water and sewer utility’s top official. At its July meeting on Tuesday, the SAWS board of trustees approved a 5 percent pay increase for President...
A year later, the Trans-Pecos Pipeline still isn’t reaching Mexico
The hotly-contested Trans-Pecos Pipeline went into service in West Texas one year ago this month, amid protest from local opponents over private property disputes and environmental impacts. The aim of the Mexican-backed project was to export natural gas from the...
Proposed pipeline would cut through Golden-cheeked Warbler habitat
Every March, birders spill into the canyonlands outside of Austin, Texas, to search for Golden-cheeked Warblers. The tiny black-and-white songbird, with vibrant yellow splashed across its face, is the state’s sole endemic bird, and a federally protected species with...
Water recycling system at new elementary school will cut use by 90%
The newest elementary school in Wimberley will be the most water-efficient school in the state, conservation groups and planners hope. The school, funded through 2018 bond money, will gather rainwater and air conditioning condensate to flush toilets; that wastewater...
Letter to the Editor, Time to get past denial and start finding solutions
by Eva Silverfine Ott, Comal County Resident Letter to the Editor of the New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung June 27, 2019 I want to applaud Chris Lykins for his editorial, “The Climate Change Conspiracy” (Herald-Zeitung, 6-16-19). The effects of greenhouse gases (82% of...